The Silent Luna's Trial (Maple and Finn) novel Chapter 51

Chapter 6

Blake stumbled through the deserted Pack House, his movements frantic as he flung open doors with mounting desperation. The silence around him was suffocating, broken only by the echo of his hurried steps and the creak of hinges.

He reached the master bedroom first. Lena’s scent still clung faintly to the pillows, a ghost of her presence lingering in the air. Yet, when his eyes shifted to her side of the closet, emptiness stared back at him—no clothes, no sign that she had been there recently.

He moved on, checking the guest room, the study, and the walk-in wardrobe, each space echoing with absence. Finally, he found himself at the nursery door.

Crossing the threshold, his legs betrayed him, buckling beneath the weight of sudden grief. He sank to his knees, breath catching painfully in his throat.

“Oh gods,” he whispered, voice cracking. “It’s real.”

The haunted look he had seen in Lena’s eyes the night before—the endless sorrow, the burning hatred—now made painful sense. And that morning, when she clutched that torn teddy bear so tightly… He suddenly remembered. That bear had been their daughters’ favorite toy. A flood of memories crashed over him, each one sharper than the last.

And what had he said to her? Those cruel words echoed in his mind: “What trash are you carrying around? Toss it out before it stinks up the house.”

A strangled sound escaped his throat, raw and ragged. His lungs ached, as if filled with acid, burning with the weight of his guilt.

Then, a memory surfaced unbidden.

The twins’ fifth birthday. Miles had insisted he take the girls to the amusement park. Little Nancy had looked up at him, eyes wide and shining with hope.

“Daddy… you’re not working today? I’m so happy! Thank you for celebrating with us!”

And Kate, slipping her tiny hand into his, had whispered, “Mommy was right. You are the best daddy in the world.”

Blake collapsed forward onto the nursery floor, his face pressed against the cold wood as he gasped for air like a man drowning.

They had been so innocent. So full of love. Yet on the day he had thrown them into that van bound for The Obedience Den, his voice had been sharp and cruel.

“Disrespectful brats! Is this how your mother teaches you to treat guests? No wonder you’re as worthless as she is!”

Hot tears splattered onto the floorboards, each drop a testament to his regret.

Then, something caught the corner of his eye—a glimmer beneath the crib. With trembling hands, he crawled forward and grasped a faded photograph.

It showed Lena and the twins, smiling brightly beneath a cherry blossom tree. Beside them, a crudely drawn stick figure labeled “DADDY” in shaky crayon.

A sob tore through him, raw and uncontrollable.

This was all she had left for him. Nothing else.

She wanted him to suffer.

Desperately, Blake fumbled for his phone and dialed Lena’s number again and again.

But each time, only the cold automated voice answered: “The subscriber you dialed is unavailable—”

Every repetition carved deeper wounds into his soul.

For the first time, Blake truly understood.

Lena had always been there.

For twenty-one years—since they were just eight years old.

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